


Greenberg

by mediocre-writing (elleavantemm)



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-07
Updated: 2012-10-07
Packaged: 2017-11-15 20:49:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/531543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elleavantemm/pseuds/mediocre-writing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every time Coach Finstock mentions Greenberg, Stiles closes his eyes and does a mental tally of the people in the room before turning to look at Scott who shrugs, confirming that there is, in fact, no one named Greenberg in the room.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Greenberg

**Author's Note:**

> I kept thinking about Jeff Davis and his tweets that hinted that Greenberg is just a figment of Coach Finstock's imagination, and I couldn't help but write this. Originally posted on tumblr.

Every time Coach Finstock mentions Greenberg, Stiles closes his eyes and does a mental tally of the people in the room before turning to look at Scott who shrugs, confirming that there is, in fact, no one named Greenberg in the room. Beacon Hills, while not a small town, isn’t exactly a large sprawling metropolis, and so a new addition in the sea of faces every day would definitely be noticed. Especially in the locker room every day with fourteen other guys.

No one ever says anything. Either it is out of respect for Finstock, or because they fear his having a potential meltdown, Stiles isn’t sure;but almost every day, without fail, the name Greenberg finds its way into scholastic interactions, and it’s making Stiles wonder if maybe he’s the one who’s crazy.

During the play-off game, when Finstock’s hand falls heavy on Stiles’ shoulder, informing him that he’s playing in the game, it’s almost mean when Stiles’ asks, “What about Greenberg?” He isn’t surprised when Finstock replies as though it is a legitimate question. His qualifying of Stiles as a marginally better player is just further evidence of how much commitment the man has to his delusion. 

“Dude,” Stiles hisses at Scott in econ one afternoon. Finstock is writing something on the board, and Stiles passes the folded paper across the aisle as discretely as possible. Jackson snorts derisively from behind.

Scott scans the paper quickly, dark eyebrows shooting up in surprise. In Stiles’ neat-but-still-messy scrawl, he’s written that Greenberg was the name of a player on Finstock’s college lacrosse team and that there was some crazy car accident that killed him. Thank you, google-fu for that. The newspaper article that Stiles found had been kind of vague, but he’s almost positive that Finstock was involved in the crash somehow. 

Scott writes beneath in his slow block letter writing, _what if they were involved_?

Huh. That was something Stiles hadn’t considered. Either option seemed plausible. It might account for Finstock’s random announcement that Greenberg shouldn’t have his cellphone number. Although if they had been dating, Stiles’ wasn’t sure why that would be a problem. 

The simple suggestion burrows into Stiles’ brain and won’t let go. He thinks about what it would be like if Scott died suddenly, how he might handle it. He thinks about what it would be like if Scott died suddenly and he was at fault for it. It makes his chest ache, so he doesn’t think about it for long. What if Finstock had been driving? Or had at least been in the car? 

There is no way to broach the subject with Finstock in a way that won’t seem creepy and invasive, or that might result in something Stiles is ill equipped to handle. Though his curiosity still nags at him, Stiles lets it go. Greenberg isn’t a real person; but he was once; and that person played a big role in Finstock’s life. And that makes his frequent invasions into Stiles’ day a little bit easier to handle.


End file.
